Luck of the Toss

Summary: Life in the gutter was not something that Toss had chosen. So when fate shoved him in a new direction, he went. Not out of any choice, but new is always better than old - who knows where it leads...?

Luck of the Toss

He went past the farrier’s shop and the row of
market stalls, past the old temple pillars and into the main square.

No one looked at him or paid him any attention. Why
would they? He was just another street urchin like so many others, and everyone
was too engrossed in their own survival to care about his.

The stink of an open sewer caught him, sending him
reeling, spinning him momentarily off balance. But the feeling faded rapidly,
even before the smell did.

A man with a large aquiline nose was watching from
across the road.

The boy became aware of him and went out of his way
to avoid those searching eyes. He had learnt long ago that attracting attention
brought him nothing but trouble, so he kept his head down and sped up his pace,
all the time reaching with his senses towards the man, monitoring him. Was he still
watching? Had he moved? Was he following him?

He did not see the form that blocked his path. A
hand seized his arm.

“Watch your step, boy!”

He muttered an apology, but the grip on his arm did
not relent.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

He looked up at the question and started!

It was the same man who had been watching him from across
the street, or perhaps his twin brother. How had he moved so far so quickly?
What did he want with him?

In sudden terror, he tried to squirm away. But the
man’s hold only tightened.

Dark eyes in a wizened face, lined with the marks of
venerable age but belied by the iron grip upon his arm.

“Why are you fleeing, boy? What have you done?” His
tone lowered a notch and became accusatory. “Are you a thief?”

The man shook him as if to shake an explanation out
of him.

But the boy was too frightened to answer and the man
finally saw that this was so.

It was not as if the boy had any real choice. He
stumbled to where the man dragged him, into the shadowed portico of a derelict
house.

Here the boy became aware of others pressing in
around him.

“Hey Sharim, look what I’ve gone and found!” the man
exclaimed as he thrust the boy into the middle of the space.

A lantern appeared and an old crone bent down to
look into the boy’s grimy face. She lifted his chin with a pointy finger and
peered into his frightened eyes.

“Aye, he’d be the nimble one. He’ll do nicely, he
will,” she said, and then he was whisked away.

“What’s your name, boy?”

He had been carted somewhere in a carriage with no
windows. When they had let him out, daylight had blinded him and, before he
could get his bearings, he had been shoved into this room.

It was gloomy, except for the vertical slivers of
light seeping through the gaps in the roughly made windows. A man spoke from across the table at the room’s centre.
His face was in shadow, but the boy made out the outline of a hat and thought
the man might be bearded.

“Toss,” he answered.

This revelation was met with a moment of silence.

“Toss?” the man repeated in a tone of disbelief.
“What kind of a name’s that?”

The boy shrugged.

“Well, never mind. Toss, I have a job for you. One
that will pay really well, but you must do exactly as you’re told. Do you
understand?”

Toss nodded.

“Now listen very carefully to what I have to say,
Toss. Because if you perform your duty to my precise instructions, I will pay
you more than you can possibly imagine. I will pay you in gold. Have you ever even
seen gold, Toss?”

The lad shook his head.

The man leaned forward and held something out for
him to inspect. As he did so his hand passed through one of the slivers of
sunlight. For just a moment, whatever was in his hand shone as if it was a
fragment of the sun itself.

Toss’ eyes widened and the man behind the desk smirked.

“Ah, you see it, don’t you? You see it and you want
it!”

The hand closed around the treasure and withdrew.

“And as I said, it can be yours, but only if you do
exactly as I ask, not more and not less. Do you understand?”

Toss nodded again.

“Very good,” the man continued. “But Toss, I need
you to understand that if you do not follow my instructions precisely,
something terrible will happen to you. Do you know what happens to thieves?”

Toss nodded, he knew only too well. Many of the boys
he had met or had scrapes with had only one hand, having lost the other to the punisher’s
blade.

“And you would not want that to happen to you now,
would you?”

Toss shook his head slowly but firmly.

“Good, good; very good. Because if it came down to
that, you would not lose just one hand, you’d lose them both, and we all know
what that means, don’t we? You’d be of no use to anyone. It would mean the end
for you, Toss. I need you to understand that before we go on. So, do you?”

Another slow nod.

The man moved closer to Toss and lowered his voice
to a whisper.

“So then, here’s what I need you to do …”

The next morning Toss was free.

He had slept on a pallet for the first time in a
long while. He had been fed well last night and had broken fast with pork and
bread and milk. He was sated and even a bit groggy from all the food. But still
he was far from happy with his situation.

His freedom was nothing but an illusion. He knew
that he was being watched. And though he had no idea how many sets of eyes were
locked on him as he walked down the street, he could feel them boring holes
into the back of his skull with their intensity.

He had been given his instructions so many times
since yesterday that he was certain he could prattle them off by heart even in
his sleep.

He walked back towards the town centre. When he
reached the square he stopped in the shade of a wall and waited. The wait
seemed interminable. It ended when a carriage drawn by two horses came down the
west road and came to a halt outside the inn.

The driver passed the reins to the lad sitting next
to him and climbed down from his seat. He opened the carriage doors for a young
woman and an older man. The driver then escorted the pair to the inn, leaving
the carriage with the boy who was now sitting squarely in the centre of the
driver’s seat.

Toss made his move.

Moving nimbly, he crossed the square and walked
casually along the inn side of the carriage. As soon as he reached the rear he
looked around to make sure that no one was marking his manoeuvre and then
climbed up onto the luggage rack. He lifted the wooden lid of the luggage
compartment and slid into the narrow space between the luggage and the side of
the carriage. Gingerly he lowered the lid shut.

He awoke when the carriage lurched forward and he
banged his head against the side of the compartment. He couldn’t be sure that
he hadn’t cried out, but the carriage didn’t stop, so he slowly allowed his
body to relax.

If anyone conversed inside the carriage, he did not
hear their exchange. All he could hear was the racket of the metal wheels
striking against the cobbles of the street beneath him and the rattles and
creaks and groans of the carriage timbers as the vehicle swayed on the uneven
surface.

Suddenly the noise of the wheels changed as they
left the town and pulled out onto the open highway where there were no more
cobbles, but plenty more potholes and ruts caused the carriage to bounce and
sway violently. The journey seemed to go on forever and, with nothing else to
occupy his mind, he went thoroughly over what he was required to do. He didn’t
want to lose his hands.

Another change, short and dramatic, found the wheels
thundering over a wooden drawbridge; a jolt and a thump and the carriage was admitted
through the castle’s walls, and moved now across the smooth, level ground of
the first yard.

Toss tensed again. The time for movement and action
was almost upon him again.

He waited until all motion ceased and listened
carefully to all the sounds around him.

The driver and his boy descended from the bench and
opened the doors for the passengers, murmuring voices fading as the four walked
towards the keep.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Toss pushed the compartment’s lid open just a
fraction. He glanced left and right then dropped to the ground and scuttled
underneath the carriage just as more footsteps approached.

Three sets of feet shod in black shoes. The house
servants gathered at the rear and opened the compartment he had just escaped
from.

Grunts and scraping sounds and then a loud thump as the
heavy chest was lowered to the ground.

“They don’t think ‘bout us when they pack these
things, do they?” complained one voice. “Shh!” cautioned another. “Of course they
don’t, why should they when they haven’t lifted a thing in their life? They
don’t understand weight. All they know is that someone’s gonna do it for them.”

“Shut yer traps,” warned a third voice. “Let’s just
get all this stuff inside before ye have to look fer another job, yer stupid
oafs!”

Accompanied by huffs and more grunts, the chest was
lifted and two sets of feet walked it towards a small entrance, not the one
where the first lot had gone through. The last of the trio fell in behind the
others carrying some burdens of his own.

Toss crawled out from under the carriage and
followed the last man right up to the door. He hesitated for a moment until he
could no longer hear the sound of the man’s footsteps, and then he too was
inside.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the
change in light.

Then he froze to the spot.

Blocking his passage was a guard: armour, helmet,
the lot. As luck would have it, the man’s head was turned towards where the
last servant was even now turning a corner. Another moment now and he would
turn, see Toss, and Toss would lose his hands.

Quick and silent as a rat, Toss scanned the room and
bolted, even as the guard began to turn towards the door. He scuttled behind
some crates and, keeping as low as he could, he made his way past the guard and
made for the stairs that would take him up to the second floor, to where he was
meant to go.

Toss moved when he could, froze when he had to, and
slowly made progress towards his destination. He climbed the first flight of
stairs without any bother at all, but then, when he was half way up the second
flight, someone started to come down and he was forced to retreat to the first
landing. He could not stop even here but ducked down the hallway to the left of
the landing.

Just three steps into it and he heard the murmur of voices
coming towards him. Trapped between two possibilities of discovery he opted to
open the first door he came across and slipped inside.

He did it quietly of course, making hardly any noise
opening the door and closing it behind him; so he almost jumped out of his skin
when a voice spoke in his ear.

“What are you
doing here?”

He turned to see a girl maybe just a few years older
than himself. Her inflection was so confident it seemed to suggest that she
knew him somehow, or perhaps that she even knew his purpose. Toss whirled
around to face her.

“Please, don’t …” he started, but the girl reached
past him and opened the door just a fraction.

They both watched as two maids walked past at a
brisk pace, heads bent together, talking in hushed tones. The girl closed the door.

“What are
you doing here?” she repeated, a little louder and more forcefully this time.

But before their conversation could go anywhere,
another, deeper voice interrupted him.

“Savina, what is it? What are you doing in there?”

“Wait and be quiet!” the girl whispered urgently,
shoving him back against the wall and then pulling quickly away.

“Nothing, Pa,” she said, walking towards the room
where the man’s voice had come from. “The door to the passageway was open, so I
closed it.”

“Ah, good girl. I thought I heard voices …”

She walked into the room.

“A couple of servants were walking past,” he heard
her explain before the door closed and their exchange became muffled.

Toss’ heart was beating furiously.

He was stuck and did not know what to do. Any moment
now that door could fly open and the man would seize him. If the girl talked,
it was over. And why wouldn’t she talk? He was an intruder, he was in her home,
and he obviously wasn’t here with good reason. She knew he was up to something,
up to some mischief.

Toss had not been told what the results of his
actions might be, but he was not a dullard, he could piece things together. The
small metal vial tied inside the hem of his vest was of metal for a reason, and
though he did not know for sure what
it would do to anyone who consumed it, he could guess.

If they caught
him and searched him, they would find the vial and would know his true purpose;
and then he’d lose more than his hands. He’d lose his life.

There was no sign that anyone was coming for him.
Clearly, the girl had not told her pa about him. He had to keep going – there
was nothing else for him to do.

He started moving again.

He emerged from his hiding place and, feeling his
way, walked back towards the door to the hallway. When he reached it he peered
outside and, seeing that the coast was clear, he tiptoed to the landing and dashed
up the stairs.

This time he had a clear run. He reached the second
landing and took the left passage. He slid inside the third door to the right. Into
a bedroom, just like he had been told.

An imposing four-poster dominated the room. A large
wooden chest sat at the foot of the bed, offering a cushioned seat before a
deeply set fireplace. Two gigantic wardrobes rose along the left wall, while an
ornate dresser, and glass doors which opened onto a small balcony, claimed the opposite
side of the bed.

Feeling dwarfed by all the furniture, Toss did not
linger but slid under the bed and positioned himself close to the head of the
bed, near the wall.

This is where he felt most comfortable of all -
waiting patiently. He knew waiting. He was consummately used to it. It was such
an integral part of his life - like regular meals and sleep are an integral
part of a normal person’s life. He used every waiting experience to sleep,
secure that he would be instantly awake at the slightest change in his waiting
environment.

This time was no different.

His eyes sprung open when the door to the room
opened, and he was instantly awake before the first footfall had even connected
with the room’s floorboards.

Toss’ mouth felt parched. He had not had anything to
drink since morning.

He watched as a man’s feet walked around to the
dresser. The man paused before the balcony doors and opened them to the balmy
night air.

He could see all this because the man held a taper, and
its tremulous light made the room quiver and the shadows dance.

With a sigh, the man made his way to one of the
wardrobes and opened it. He disrobed, discarding his clothes on the floor, and
donned a nightdress.

The bed swayed dramatically when the man sat down
upon it. Then the feet swung up and the man shuffled and wriggled into the bed.

The candle was extinguished, and after a silent
spell the man’s breathing became audible and rhythmic. It gradually grew in
volume until every out-breath produced a respectable snore.

Toss waited, just like he had been instructed.

When he deemed he had waited long enough, he
silently crept out from under the bed and stood near the chest, looking down at
the man’s sleeping form. He was within reach of his employer’s intended purpose
and was close to accomplishing his objective. Until now, he had not allowed
himself the luxury of thinking past this point. He was a street urchin,
condemned to a life of hardship and misery. At best, he could hope to forge for
himself a career as a pauper or a vagabond. He did not indulge in the luxury of
thinking too far ahead. One thing at a time seemed enough to him. But now as he
stood there, looking at the sleeping form of this man, he sensed that he stood
at a major turning point. The decision he made here tonight would steer the
direction of his entire future. And as he faced what he had been ordered to do,
he could not deceive himself about the consequences. He knew clearly that, if
he accomplished the task that had been appointed to him, the man in the bed
would die.

A chill travelled the length of his spine.

I’m only doing
what I’ve been told to do. I’m just doing what I have to do to stay alive, to
save my hands.

But still he could not deceive himself. If he carried
out this deed, his career would take him down the path of a cutthroat or,
worse, an assassin.

Or he could try to leave and run away. Hope they
would not find him. But he knew that this was self-deception. There was no
hiding for the likes of him. He belonged in the gutter and there was nowhere to
hide there - it was way too crowded.

As he stood there, torn between these thoughts,
another thought suddenly stalked into his awareness, like a predator. What if
this was the girl’s pa? She had seen him and not betrayed him. She had decided
to protect him. Was this how he was going to repay her gift?

He stood there hesitating and looking at the form on
the bed, confused as to what he should do, when the chance to make a decision
was abruptly taken from him.

He must have had some subtle warning, however, maybe
a soft scuffle in the hallway, or perhaps he felt the displacement of air as
the bedroom door began to open, because he was back under the bed so quickly
that whoever crept into the bedroom didn’t have a chance to see him. From his
hideout, he watched a pair of bare feet cross the floor to the bed and then
climb up.

The man’s regular breathing soon changed and was
replaced by sounds of pleasure.

Toss was young, but he was not stupid. He knew what
was happening. All the boys on the street talked of little else. Toss didn’t
really get it though; he understood that it was necessary in order to make
babies, but … why did people have to do it so often? It was baffling, almost as
if they enjoyed it.

Oh, he could understand the men enjoying it, but the
women? They were the ones who ended up making the babies. He had seen a baby
being born once and it scared him half to death, it had.

These and other thoughts passed through his mind as
he lay under that bed, listening to the baby-making sounds just above his head.

His mission was still poised over him like a
menacing threat, unaccomplished and as unavoidable as death. Toss waited and
worried.

Eventually the two on the bed exhausted themselves
and the room grew quiet. Two breaths now sang their snoring duet.

Toss reached a decision.

He was here with a purpose. He could not leave and
hope to survive if he did not complete what he had come here to do. It was not
his fault if anyone died. He was not the hand that thrust knife, he was just
the blade that was being thrust. He waited some more, just to make sure that
the pair was truly and deeply asleep. Then he crept out from his hiding place and,
wasting no time, he unstoppered the metal vial, reached for the cup of water on
the man’s side-table, and emptied the small amount of liquid into it.

Done.

He replaced the vial into the folds of his shirt,
secured it there with a tight knot, and then he was out of the room and down
the stairs. He was on the verge of walking past the passage where the girl had
surprised him, when he stopped short.

He could not do it.

He could not walk past. Could not bring himself to
walk away from her life without one more glimpse, one more attempt to see her.
Cussing at his own stupidity, he opened the door and slid inside. The long room
was empty. He sneaked up to the door at the far end and peeked inside.

He saw a small bed. A small form lying in it.

He tiptoed right up to the girl and tried to peer
into her face.

He could barely make out her features. He noticed
how the sheets rose and fell with her breathing.

What am I
doing here?

And, as if in response to his silent question, her
hand shot out to grab his arm.

“What are you doing here?”

There it was, the mirror of his own question. At
least he knew what answer to give.

“I don’t know.”

The girl’s eyes burned like lanterns. Her lips
parted into a small smile.

“I knew you’d come back.”

You knew? he
thought numbly, I didn’t.

“I … should go …” he stammered.

She frowned at his words.

“Go where? The castle is closed. There is no way
out, until they open the gate at dawn.”

“The side gate’s not manned,” he insisted, telling
her what he had been told. “I let myself out and I’m gone, long before dawn.”

“Who told you that?” she asked, sitting up in her
bed.

He shrugged, unsure of what to say.

“I should go,” he repeated, serious this time.

He looked at the hand still gripping his arm.

“You can’t go now!” she insisted. “There are guards
at every gate … you’ll never make it out. They’ll catch you.”

Toss frowned.

Could it be that they had lied to him? That they had
made him do their dirty work, and trapped him here so that he would be found
and killed? Could it be that even the gold they had promised him had been a lie?

He looked into the girl’s eyes.

He had never seen anyone with eyes as clear and
honest as hers. The more he thought about it the more he asked himself why he
trusted the men who had forced him to do this. And he realised the truth: he
did not trust them at all.

He was terrified of them. That was the true force
that had driven him here: terror and survival. He felt his eyes smarten with
tears.

Toss burst onto the landing and made for the stairs
in a rush of blind panic.

“Hey you!” bellowed a voice from behind him. “Stop!”

He did not heed it but ran up the flight of steps,
followed all the way by the guard’s shouts of alarm. He ran straight into the
room of the sleepers who were just rousing in response to the racket. The woman
screamed and the man cursed as Toss lunged across the bed to seize the poisoned
cup. He glanced inside, but could not tell if any of the liquid had been drunk.

He carried it to the balcony and cast the cup flying
into the courtyard below.

Then a blow to the head sent him reeling across the
room and the darkness that followed was not one he would have chosen to suffer
if he had any choice.

Toss was a survivor.

Even emerging from unconsciousness had to be done
properly, seizing on any vantage he could find, any foothold that could help
him stay alive. He felt himself reaching for the surface, but forced his body
to remain still, as if he was still senseless.

The first thing he ascertained was that he still had
hands.

He did, and it pleased him immensely. But in the
process he also discovered that his arms were tightly bound, as were his legs.

Toss realised just then how much his head hurt.
Opening his eyes was painful. Light was painful. Sound was painful.

He groaned.

“Ah, your head hurts, does it? Well, that’s no
surprise. You got yourself a considerable whack. But don’t worry, you’ll live. And,
depending upon the story you tell me now, you might even avoid the gallows. So
you’d better start from the beginning.”

Three days later, Toss attended the execution of the
enemy spies in the town’s public square. Once the five men and two women were swinging
from the ropes, he knew that the danger was mostly over for him. But he also
noted that some faces in the crowd eyed him without sympathy.

Jasmine was not there. Uncle Tobias was of a mind
that a young girl like her should not have to witness such harshness. Not at
her age.

Afterwards, he approached Toss.

“So, you’re free to go now, if you like. You’ve got
a lot to thank Jasmine for, you know. If it hadn’t been for her you’d likely be
dead now.”

So would you,
Toss thought - but said nothing.

A smile crept onto Tobias’ lips. He nodded slowly.

“As indeed would I …”

How did he …?

“But I suspect that freedom may not be the thing you
really want? Made a few enemies, perhaps, by not killing me? So, here’s the
thing … if you’re willing to work hard, you can come and make a life for
yourself in the castle. How does that sound? It’s just an offer, you don’t have
to accept …”

“I’ll come,” Toss said without hesitation.

And, as he followed Tobias away from the gallows and
climbed into the carriage with him to ride back to the castle, Toss knew that
his life had indeed turned.

He did not know where this path would lead, but he
followed it gladly for, against all odds, it led away from the gutter and from
a life that he had not believed it possible to escape.

Write a Review
Did you enjoy my story? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks,
Claudio Silvano

Lydia Walters:
I really enjoyed this novel. It gives us a view of what could be if we really tried.Also that there's nothing wrong with loving our LORD and our fellow humans. couldn't wait to get to each new chapter (mission). Thanks, Joe!

Ruby O'Keeffe:
I'm only a few chapters in and I love this book! The writing style fits the setting and theme perfectly, and the descriptions of the characters, setting and more are beautiful! I would love to read to read more from this author!

Carole Troup:
A good read for a paranormal lover. There are multiple different types of beings here a dragon ,warlock , witch, vampire Slayer, gargoyle, vampires a few more I am not listing. this is a nice read not overly violent. However there is fighting and bloodshed. A Love story, wrapped in a vampire war,...

Aditya Harikrish:
It had me on tenterhooks since the very first page. Excllently developed plot and characters. You've done an amazing job of building a fantasy world from scratch. Hats off to you!A sequel is a must.

spatiaangelus :
Loved reading this novel. the intricacy of the storyline, the amount of detail and the development of the plot was amazing.Not only is it a unique read, I found it utterly enjoyable and cannot wait to read more

Sonali Srivastava:
It is very Fancinating to read a story full of Fantasy and specially when love is not complete as story , I really like the Imagination of Author and his writing skill, u dictated everything so beautifuly that when I read it I lost in the story and I hope I will read soon the second year of Zakir...

Drew C. Elyon:
I've only read one chapter so far, but from what I've seen, this is steampunk at its best. The narrative flows so beautifully I could envision every scene in an almost cinematic fashion. I believe in the complexity of simplicity, and this story has that in its descriptions.

Warren Bull:
I thought this was a fast=paced thriller with elements of several other genres woven seamlessly in. It hooked me early and held my attention throughout. I liked the humor and surprises along the way. I really enjoyed the novel. I am not a big fan of romances or paranormal works,but when those ele...

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